Keiji is tasked with protecting Lord Takumi alongside Felicia.
Charlotte
This isn't what you had in mind when Lady Corrin asked you to protect her brother.
You and Felicia are holed up in a hotel room across the street from Macarath's towering palace while watching over the sleeping Lord Takumi. He seems alright at a glance, but you can't help noticing the glistening sheen across his forehead.
Meanwhile, Hoshidan entourage in charge of finding the remedy have only just crossed the road and opened up the palace's front doors.
"He's getting far too warm," Felicia tells you worriedly, checking the Lord's temperature. "All we can do now is hope Lady Corrin finds what she needs."
"At least he's resting soundly," you answer with a weak smile.
You turn your attention to your surroundings - a much-needed distraction. Accommodation of this calibre is among the finest you've laid your eyes on.
Velvet drapes hang from curtain rails above the wide glass windows, and beside them is a comfy double bed with plenty of extra silken sheets as its foot. There's even a fancy bookshelf beside the glass window; the sort that would've taken countless weeks of only the finest artisan's time and effort to craft. What strikes you most in the room however, is the gold-finished bedside dresser. It must have costed a fortune to hire a tradesman skilful enough to make it.
"I can't believe the owners left this place empty when Lord Ryoma marched into town. Do they fear us, Felicia?"
The maid doesn't look happy with your question.
"They're scared of the lies told by Garon and his men," she explains. "I was raised in Nohr for much of my early life, until I joined Lady Corrin on her quest to find the right path. I don't regret it... but seeing Hoshido for myself makes all the stories told to me as a child so... bleak."
Now there's something you're interested in learning more about. Felicia's place of birth.
Her light hair and blue eyes make it obvious she's not a Hoshidan native - not that you care. To you she's always been a steadfast friend - the lass you work alongside who always tries too hard. Your dearest comrade who's always falling over her feet to prove useful, even moreso.
"Tell me about yourself, Felicia," you ask, waving off Lady Corrin from your place beside the windowsill. She blows you a kiss once her guards and Sir Jakob have gone inside. 'Be careful' you mouth silently, pushing a fearful twinge as far down as you can.
"M-Me?" Felicia stammers with surprise, her cheeks glowing pink. "I-I'm not really all too interesting."
"I'm sure you are," you assure the lass with an upbeat smile. "Everyone has a story." A story you'd love to hear, and something to keep your mind busy, too. Anything to stop you from feeling so uneasy about leaving Corrin to her mission.
"Okay then, if you insist." Felicia joins you, sitting on the window's ledge beside you. "What would you like to know, Keiji?"
'Why are you a maid, Felicia?' You can't help but wonder. She's far better suited to helping people in battle. A shrine maiden or a lady apothecary is more her calling, you feel. You decide against telling her as such though. It'd hurt her feelings to no end. She wants to be a maid, even if she's terrible at it.
A kinder question is probably a good idea. "Where did you live before coming to Hoshido?"
For all you've worked beside the maid as of late, you know so very little about her personal life.
Such curiosity has the Felicia flushed, her face reddening a touch. "My home? Gosh... Let me think for a moment. I remember little about my hometown." Felicia snaps her fingers - an attempt at jogging her memory.
You notice Felicia is shuffling closer as she ponders, laying claim to a sizable slice of your personal space - just like outside the mess hall the other day. The two of you will be touching if she gets any nearer. You catch a whiff of her rose perfume.
You can't help noticing how pretty she looks, also. Very pretty indeed.
"I know where to start," Felicia speaks up victoriously, snapping you from your gazing. "For starters, I'm a daughter of the Ice Tribe Village. It's where I was born before entering Lady Corrin's service."
You gasp, honestly surprised. "The Ice Tribe?! As in, the place in the coldest corner of Nohr...?!"
She claps her hands cheerfully, exceedingly happy with herself. "Didn't expect that, now did you?"
"No..." You shake your head. "I most certainly didn't. You don't seem the type."
"Well... I can prove it to you!" Felicia snaps up one of your hands and holds it tightly in hers. "Now then, watch this. There's one thing I've noticed about you, Keiji. Your hands are always cold, and you rub them together all the time. Wouldn't it be fun to change that? Hold still, alright?" the lassie requests kindly, closing her fingers around yours and joining you both as one - something she's seems very happy about. "Just relax - for once I won't let you down."
A soft ethereal hum fills the room, a soft orange glow resonating from Felicia. Heat swirls across the surface of your skin, thawing your usually icy hands. The maid softens her gaze as she performs her magic with cheeks beet red, her sapphire eyes quivering with emotion as she goes. The same romantic and loving eyes you beheld the a short while ago. "Keiji... About the other day, when we talked..."
Your stomach flutters, nervous excitement bubbling within. "...Yes? What of it?"
Felicia exhales desperately, drawing closer. "You're always so lonely. You don't let anyone close, save Subaki and me. A-And I was wondering if you might let me closer still. I know you've been through a lot, I've heard the stories, I mean. And honestly, I want more than anything to take care of you."
You're heartbeat quickens, your oftentimes conflicted feelings swelling amidst the girl's request.
A lump forms in your throat, unease sinking its uncaring talons into you. "...I wish it could be so simple."
"And why can't it...?" Felicia asks, inching nearer. You're drawn to her rosy pink lips.
"Because I'm afraid," you admit shamefully. "Afraid to let anyone too near after all I've endured."
Felicia brings her arms around your shoulders. "Even me...?"
You nod, welcoming your friend's embrace all too willingly despite the confession "I'm afraid so. There's but one exception."
Felicia brings you to her chest, cuddling you protectively. "And who might that be?"
You'll be honest. Felicia deserves as much. "Lady-"
There comes a huge crash from downstairs - the unmistakable sound of wood smashing into splinters - a door torn from its hinges. Boots thunder up the first floor staircase. You and Felicia untangle yourselves from one another. Your warrior's Instinct kicks in - as sharp as a blade and as deadly as a wolf.
"I shall go check it out," you tell Felicia, reaching for your weapon and rushing across the room. "Keep an eye on Lord Takumi." Panicked, Felicia is still getting her bearings by the time you're propped against the hotel suite's lavish oaken doors.
"Wait!" the maid calls, a hand held out to you. "We don't know what's out there! Let me come with you. I'll help!"
"I can't let you do that. His Lordship will be totally undefended." And while she's right - you don't know what's out there - countless clashes on the battlefield have you well accustomed to danger. Those thumping footsteps out in the hall don't belong to a Hoshidan Samurai, nor a ninja.
"Please, Felicia," you petition with added with urgency. "Stay put for an instant. I'll be right back."
Fine," Felicia relents with a sigh, levelling her displeasure at you with quivering eyes. "But be careful. I have a bad feeling..."
"Always," you assure her. Bringing the door wide open with a hardy bash, you step forth into the unknown. You slam the door shut on instinct thereafter.
You draw your steel. An axe swoops past your head seconds after, missing you by the sheer grace of the gods.
A buxom blonde lass stands across the hall from you. "Damn!" she snaps. "Looks like I missed... Won't happen again."
Your assailant is mid-height with lightly freckled cheeks; long and wavy golden hair pools down her back. She blessed with quite the curvy figure as well, and you'll be damned if she isn't wearing the most pitiful excuse for armor. Metal greaves cover her feet and an iron collar protects her neck, but those aside she sports in little more than a bustier and undergarments.
The assailant flashes you a sultry wink. Then she drags a colossal zweihander axe from behind her back. "And here I'd hoped to bring you down with one hit," she grumbles. "How bothersome, but it doesn't matter. Soon as I hack you down to size nothing's stopping me from taking the prince, and then I'll be well-rewarded." There's a sickening glint to this girl's eyes at the notion of riches. "And it'll all have been worth it."
"Sorry Miss," you interject, intent on shattering those delusions of wealth. "You're not going any further. If you wish to bother Lord Takumi then you'll have to go through me." Not that you will let that happen. You'll plunge your katana through the sultry vixen's sizable chest before you do.
"Well of course!" The girl declares rudely, rolling her eyes and scoffing. "That was the plan! Name's Charlotte. Not that you'll be standing long against me." She licks her lips, crouching low in a garish combat-style. For the love of the Light Dragon, her breasts are almost spilling out her excuse for clothing. "Unless of course, if you're a noble?" she continues. "Then I might just take you along for the journey, too. I could use a wealthy plaything."
Talk of nobility, and so casually too. This woman is a disgrace. "No, I'm not. A commoner, nothing more and nothing less."
"Fine then, you can die," Charlotte says uncaringly, flipping back her golden waves and lugging the monster of an axe over her shoulder.
"We'll see, Nohrian. We'll see." You envision fires and hear screams in your mind, a scarring past memory. Nohrian barbarians butcher Hoshidan samurai: and all while innocent townswomen are held to the ground and defiled. A slow-burning, acidic anger pulses through your veins. You temper it, ready to strike.
You hurl yourself at Charlotte, taking a swing with your steel. Your strike clangs against the handle of her massive axe, parried by her brutish strength. "Not bad, Samurai," your foe compliments mockingly. "But it won't be enough!" Turning her body inward, she frees one of her hands from her weapon and rams her knuckles into your gut.
"Unf," the world spins. You sputter, shaken. "Gods be damned" Charlotte tosses aside her weapon with a thump, she pulls a knife from the belt at her waist.
Steel is less effective when an enemy is already well beyond your weapon's swinging arc. You drop your steel and raise your fists - close combat it is. You're quick to sidestep Charlotte's incoming knife slash. Wasting no time, you knock it from her hand with a strike to the wrist. Fuelled by fury, you throw a further punch into her gut.
"...Shit!" Charlotte snarls, sent staggering for an instant. And only an instant. "Not bad..."
Having drawn you in close, you're unable to guard the retaliatory knee she sends slamming into your stomach. Winded, you stumble and fall onto your side.
Bested, you gaze upward to the ceiling with blurry vision. Charlotte looms overhead. Climbing atop of you, she an elbow into your ribs to keep you trapped. Her frozen sapphire leer penetrates your very soul. "Nice try," she mocks, wrapping her muscular legs around your hips like a blacksmith's vice.
"You ain't half bad," the blonde continues, pressing her knife against your throat. Streaks of sweat crawl down her face, a hungry smirk curving her lips. You can't move, no matter how struggle. This lass is all bosom and obscene amounts of muscle. "Tell you what, give up and I'll let you live. You can be my prisoner..."
Nohrians are the root cause of your suffering. You'd rather die. "There's no way I'll surrender to the likes of you, Nohrian filth."
"Alright then," Charlotte winks. "Your loss."
The sound of hinges squeak in your ears. "Keiji!" Felicia's screams. Your vision blurs and your eyes burn.
There's follows blackness all consuming. When you next open your eyes, you're back in the hotel room and safely in Felicia's arms. "It's alright... I said I'd help you, did I not?" It's almost as though she's a little girl cuddling her favorite doll.
You surrender to the maid's embrace, losing yourself to the sound of her tiny whimpers. Her eyes well, and you feel them dampening your skin. "I'm useless, Keiji," cries Felicia. "I'm so terribly useless at everything I do, but I care about you. Let me in, please...? I beg you..." With her help, you rise to your feet. It's only now that you feel a sharp pain in your left wrist. You look downward. A trail of red streaks down your forearm.
"You're bleeding!" exclaims Felicia worriedly, grabbing your arm for closer inspection, "See...? This is why you should've let me to help."
You want to tell her you'll be fine. You want to tell her not to worry: you decide against it after almost getting your throat cut.
Later that evening (after a further teary-eyed telling off from Felicia) you're standing watch over Lord Takumi.
He's still asleep, blissfully unaware of all that happened. Felicia sits across from the room from you all the while. Having kept her distance since Charlotte struck; she gazes longingly through hotel room's window. Her eyes are glazed over as though she's been struck with an incantation.
You try to think of anything but the night's events: anything to escape the seclusion of your thoughts.
"What happened to Charlotte?" You ask. "I hardly remember a thing... apart from you coming to my rescue."
"I struck her with an ice spell," Felicia reveals, still fixated upon the window. Droplets of rain crawl down the pane of glass. Thunder rumbles overhead. A storm rolling in. "It was pitiful, really, but it was all I could do. She fled after that."
"Then I owe you my life it would seem, Miss Felicia." You bow to your savior. If it weren't for her, you would've joined your father today.
The maid turns around from the window. "In that case, Keiji... be honest." Felicia's walks over to you, her shoes clacking across the hardwood of the floor. The gap closed, she then cups your cheek in her palm and raises your head. Here you are again, eye to eye and without the means to escape from your friend's woeful tears. "Why must you be so reckless?"
"Because I-" The words lodge painfully in your throat. You swallow, hard. "Whenever I let people too near, they end up hurt, and I don't know if I've the strength to keep enduring that sort of pain. It's why I shoulder my burdens alone, mostly."
Tears well in Felicia's eyes and spill down her cheeks amidst your confession. "Well... maybe next time you should stop and think about how others might feel if you were hurt. Because I care about you, Keiji, really I do. More than that, even." Throwing her arms around you, Felicia clings to you for dear life. "...I think I've fallen for you, and I want to do whatever it takes to make you happy, if you'll have a klutz like me."
There's no sense playing the fool. Felicia is being totally honest. "You love me, Felicia?"
"Uh huh, I do," she admits. "And I know I'm hapless, but I want nothing more than to be there for you, Keiji. With you."
Felicia's heartfelt confession leaves you floored, even though your heart belongs to another. Deep down a part of you that wants to take her love and hold it close to heart - to cherish it just as much as you cherish Corrin. Even if it isn't entirely fair.
Honestly contemplating the thought, you gaze deeply into Felicia's teary eyes. "You know what happened between Hana and I don't you?" you ask.
"I do," Felicia answers at a whisper. "I know your garrison was sent to a small village on the border, and that a Nohrian general waited for you."
You shudder, recalling the flames and the bloodshed of the awful day. "And what that general did to Hana and me...?" you follow.
"That too, and how it tore you both apart. Lady Corrin, she- She told me about it shortly after we both joined with her siblings here in Hoshido. And ever since we became friends I've wanted to make you smile, Keiji. Because you always do your best; because you're kind underneath those scars."
"You really think so?" you scoff, truly unsure as of late.
"I do... Yes, you've a lot of anger... but nobody's perfect. Gods, I trip over my own feet putting on stockings!"
You snort Felicia's admission, honestly warmed by it. She laughs too. Then the two of you cuddle for a time.
"Alright," you concede. "We shall try, the two of us, I mean. But I'm... far from perfect."
"Wonderful," Felicia utters softly. Leaning in, she smiles a darling smile. "I'll do my best too, to give you reasons to smile each day."
Her word given, the maid clutches your shoulder for support and presses her mouth to yours.
Corrin has returned from Macarath after what feels like forever.
You're relieved to see her clutching a small vile of bluish liquid, which is obviously Takumi's medicine. She and Lady Sakura get to work giving their ailing sibling the cure for his ailment. As as for you. you're all business. As it should be.
You stay quiet, sitting on the window's edge with Felicia sleeping soundly against your shoulder.
It's been a long night. You can't help but wonder who sent Charlotte here: moreso, how they knew exactly where you would be.
A spy, perhaps? No, that can't be it.
Whatever the case, you'll have to be extra careful while protecting Lady Corrin. You wouldn't be able to live with yourself if what happened here tonight befell her, too. Or Felicia, either. Therefore, one way or another, you'll soon need to be honest with both ladies about your feelings for them.
Tis only right and fair.
To be continued...
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